Understand the burn fat and build muscle hormones - Part 1

The norm in the fitness world is to look at calories and metabolism for fat loss and muscle building. A vast majority of the experts don’t give much importance to hormones and their effects, mainly due to lack of knowledge. In this three part article, I will try to give an overview of the muscle building and fat burning hormones along with the how to manipulate them based on your fitness goals. Part 1 will talk about the three MAIN anabolic (tissue building) hormones. So here you go:

Testosterone is a male hormone mainly produced in the testicles. A small amount is also produced by the adrenal glands. In women, testosterone is produced in the ovaries and by the adrenal gland, although the amount is quite small as compared to the male production. The normal range in males is 350- 1200ng/dl and the range in females is less than 100ng/dl. Women often inject additional testosterone if they want to build muscles at the pro-level. Apart from being a MALE hormone, it is the number one anabolic hormone in the human body. In order to gain muscle mass, one should concentrate on boosting their testosterone levels which are usually the highest in the morning and if the right kind of workouts are done (anaerobic) then you can REALLY boost your testosterone levels post workout (they drop after a few hours). The higher the intensity, the greater the testosterone production. Cortisol is a catabolic hormone which suppresses testosterone

Human Growth Hormone (HGH) is another anabolic hormone, which is produced by the pituitary gland and stimulates the liver to produce IGF-1 (Insulin like Growth Factor). HGH is also directly proportional to the exercise intensity similar to testosterone. It increases right after an intense workout and also during deep sleep. Insulin and cortisol both suppress the growth hormone. If you need benefits from the HGH and IGF-1 then you should try to keep insulin and cortisol quite low. The good thing about HGH is that you can burn fat and build muscle at the same time as one of the properties of this hormone is to breakdown fat (long story) and IGF help you grow.

Insulin is a storage (anabolic) hormone which is released by the pancreas in response to the food that you eat – mainly carbohydrates. If you get too many carbs in your system, the insulin levels rise to lower them and store them as fat for future use. That is just one part of it. If your body needs the carbs (i.e. post-workout), the insulin pushes the carbs to the muscles and also breaks down protein to help repair the muscles. Insulin spikes with high GI carbs and remains stable with low GI carbs so to avoid fat storage, one should try to stick to low GI throughout the day. Depending on your goal, you can choose what kind of carbs you need post workout.

Hope this was useful. Stay tuned, there is lots more to come.

Top 3 methods to really speed up your fat loss

If you are already taking 5 – 8 small meals, controlling carbohydrate intake at dinner, doing cardio, drinking enough water and getting a sufficient amount of sleep, but still think that the fat loss is very slow – here are 3 ways that can really accelerate your fat loss.

Introduce healthy fats in your diet: There is a lot of ‘fat phobia’ around us. People try and avoid every possible kind of fat to avoid weight gain. Actually, all fats are not bad for you and may have heard this before – It’s true. If you take in unsaturated fats in moderate amounts, they help you lower cholesterol, burn fat, increase energy levels, increase the weight loss hormones and help you avoid going into starvation. Another benefit of these fats is that they slow down absorption which means that you get continuous and prolonged energy rather than one spike. Some examples of healthy fats are avocados, almonds, peanuts and peanut butter, fish oil etc. Make them a regular part of your diet and you will see how they help you shed those inches.

Do some high intensity workouts: I am not saying you need to workout at very high intensities all the time, but you should have at least 2 workouts a week which are not just low intensity cardio. High intensity workouts can be strength training, circuit training, HIIT, body weight training, taebo etc. HIIT is the best one, but if you are not really into HIIT, then concentrate on full body workouts working all major muscle groups. Just push yourself more than you normally do. These high intensity workouts will help accelerate fat loss due to a higher EPOC effect and also tone up your muscles. Other benefits are to do with hormones that help you burn fat.

Introduce Zig-zags in both your diet and workouts: Never and I am mean NEVER continue doing the same thing day in day out. Our brain and body are programmed to adapt to whatever we are doing. If exercise or diet becomes a norm for your body, you will stop seeing any major results or benefits. Introduce zig-zags i.e. doing one thing one day and another thing the next. You can have zig-zags in your diet with respect to calories and carbohydrates which have both proven to be very effective. Another kind of zig-zag used is in the exercises – alternating between high intensity and low intensity. It gives you the benefit of both methods and avoids you getting burnt out. You can also alternate between muscle building and fat loss on a week by week zig-zag to burn fat and build muscle.

Each and everyone one of my clients have seen a increase in their fat loss after practicing the three points above. There is a lot of research available to support these methods. I have only giving you some very basic ideas about each of these methods, just to guide you as to what is possible. Please leave comments if you need more information about any of the above and also leave any feedback. Till next time guys – Lots more to come.